Page 9 of Wolf Trap
My stomach churned. I really didn’t want to explain my whole life, nor my secrets. “When I faced that angel in Adara’s castle, they’d subdued my power. Using blood was the only way to stay alive. I don’t want everyone to know that, though I suppose it doesn’t matter now. So they’ve stolen magic from you, your kind, and the rest of you have taken shelter here?”
Ubraz rested on his haunches. “There were thousands of us! Thousands of our kind, like brothers. Now only about a hundred of us remain. My kin, you saw, shattered on the ramparts. They refused to bow to Adara. So Adara destroyed them, and in doing so, released their magic and took that, as well. Now, will you help us and seal the portal?”
“I’ll try. I have to get home, though. How do I do that?”
“There’s a portal within the castle. Like ours, it’s shaped like a mirror. To get there,” Ubraz let out a deep sigh, “there’s a tunnel under the cathedral, but we haven’t used it for many years. It leads up through the cliff and into the castle, but...” he glanced at Krag, whose sharp eyes narrowed.
Krag walked forward. “It leads into a bottle dungeon.”
Lycaon winced, his shoulder rounding. “Isn’t there another way?”
Shaking his head, Ubraz muttered, “The front gates? There’s a tunnel that connects to our tunnel at the base of the cliff, but that depends on the tides.”
Krag interrupted him, “As does our tunnel, though we built shelves into the rock-face long ago that lead to caverns in case the tide comes in. You’d have to leave at low tide, obviously. We’ll give you a rope to get out of the bottle dungeon. We don’t have a grappling anchor and winch for your way out of the bottle dungeon entrance. But,” he kicked the earth, a very human thing to do for a gargoyle, “I’m sure you can improvise? We need to break the portal Ubraz brought you in from now. Then you may enter our cathedral, our home and take the rope. If you hurry, you could leave before sunset when the tide is out. Or you’d have to wait until tomorrow.”
I looked at Lycaon. “We should go now. I’m eager to get home.”
“I agree. Ubraz, I can’t thank you enough for saving us, but...”
The gargoyle smirked. “Yes, there was a reason.” He extended his long-clawed finger, pointing at me. “Her.” He implored me with a look of curiosity. “I know you believe you’re just a witch, a healer. But you do have courage, or as you say, a will to survive, which helps you stand up to Adara that others do not. There’s a spark in your soul, Elsa... Yes, I heard the whispers of your name as you fought the angel. We will meet soon, and I shall depend on your courage, your will to live. As for us, we have other portals hidden here. I’m confident for now that they won’t find those. But you will see me again. Come, time is short. I’m eager to break the portal you came through.”
I took a last glance around their strange world. Crows cawed in the distance, their shadowy shapes flying across the skyline. And the spiny ridges of the rock cathedrals. Gargoyles leaned forward, many leapt from their ledges, their massive wings blocking out the blazing sun. They landed all around us.
I wasn’t the same person. These creatures, fearful and intelligent, blew my mind. Another secret world shattered by power-crazed immortals. I knew in that instant that I had a long time ahead of me, if ever before I could settle down in my PJs again. But that was fine. Maybe I was finally finding my tribe?
As we made our way to the portal, a cool breeze blew over us. For the moment, peace washed over me. As I tread over grass, branches swayed in the distance. The birds cawed, it seemed they were roosting. But who knew? This wasn’t my world. The rules here were different.
But I breathed in the sweet air, snatching a glance at Lycaon, but being careful to keep my distance. Especially as several of the gargoyles were at our heels. It seemed they all believed that Adara’s turning to dark magic was the consequence of Loren and Zale’s love for each other. Another reason for me to keep my head around Lycaon.
He nudged me as we approached, a small grin. I nodded back. I could feel the gargoyles’ stares burning into me.
As we drew closer, upright alongside wild plants and grass, the mirror glinted under the copper rays. Isolated in a clearing, it looked out of place, but as we stepped closer, the surface glittered.
Ubraz looked at me. “We’d appreciate your blood to strengthen it. We cannot ask the wolfman. Adara has already tasted his blood. It is tainted. Yes, it helped me, but it won’t help to ward them off. Not now.”
Lycaon snapped, “What do you mean, tainted, yes, they drugged me. Put a curse on me, but my-”
Shaking his head, Ubraz raised his voice. “They’ll have taken your blood. They know its signature, its magic. Inside the castle, there are many guardians and many prisoners. They turn the prisoners, just as they turned you, wolfman, into crazed killers. Yes, I saw, I watched. Had they not stopped you, you would’ve killed your little witch friend here. And then they’d use your guilt to torture you further. Your hatred of yourself would drive you to become a real monster, not just of flesh and blood! You would become the thing that you loathe. That’s why Adara keeps them there. An abomination, their guardians fuelled by cruelty and hate. I’ve heard they have bases everywhere, not just in the mortal world.”
His animated face softened. Ubraz locked eyes with me. “But you, you seemed to have more resilience against Adara. More than I’ve seen in others. We were once the guardians, the protectors of the castle, of the family who reigned there.”
My mouth dried, I nodded. “And Adara took them, too, killed them?”
“Indeed. They were not unlike yourself, witches and mages. Adara slaughtered all of them because the family wouldn’t submit. But… after taking their magic.”
I took my athame from my belt. “I can put some blood to strengthen your magic?”
I didn’t ask them why they needed my blood if they could secure the other portals and, as interesting as they were, I wanted to get home. And ward my home to the hilt.
Slicing my fingertip, I rubbed some blood on the mirror’s surface.
Krag’s eyes narrowed. Then, raising his fist, he smashed the mirror, the shards scattering, twinkling under the brilliant sky.
“There, now they can’t break through or use their malevolent power to restore it. You two need rope and some form of anchor to hoist up through the entrance of the bottle dungeon. But be aware now, there are worse things…” He stretched himself up on his back legs and his stare tore into Lycaon. “I doubt you can help them, but Lycaon, the father of all werewolves, good or evil, the castle is riddled with a good deal of Oubliettes! Now, do either of you know what these are?” His stare flashed at me before settling back on Lycaon. I was half-listening as the shards seemed to melt like liquid silver into the surrounding grass, and the mirror turned to stone.
Clearing my dry throat I said, “Oubliette? The forgotten rooms, the worst I saw were in Warwick castle. Not a witchy thing. Prison cells, the most horrifying imaginable. A long shaft built into the ground or the walls of a castle. No windows. The prisoner can’t sit or lie down. They’re left there to die of starvation, and,” I grimaced, “often dropped on top of previously decaying bodies. It doesn’t surprise me that this sick cult has them. Where are they? I’m keen on rescuing anyone who’s in them.”
Touching my arm, Lycaon shook his head. “They’re likely driven mad if they’ve been put into such a barbaric cell, I don’t think-”